“I hope that hit the spot.” She forced a bright smile. “Now, can you tell me who you work for?”
Deafening silence.
For the love of God, speak! Okay, time to get creative. I’m getting something, anything out of this man if it’s the last thing I do. Time to appeal to his lower self.
“I’m getting hot in here.” She stood to slip off her jacket, hanging it over her chair. Slowly, she unbuttoned the top two buttons on her blouse to showcase a healthy dose of cleavage. Sitting back down, she leaned forward and smiled wide. “That’s better. Now, let’s start smaller. Where are you from originally? I’m from a little town in Georgia,” she said, starting with a small lie.
The blank eyes fell lower to linger for an inappropriate length of time on her breasts.
So there is a man in there somewhere. You’re not all machine. Maybe that’s the key to getting into your head?
She tried asking several more questions to no avail. Finally, she gave up and left to join the others in the observation room. Oddly exhausted from the experience, she plopped down onto a chair.
She buttoned her blouse. “Not my proudest moment.”
“That seemed like a waste of time,” Gabriel commented.
“I disagree,” Frost said. “We learned a lot about him. First, he still needs food and water. And I found that little trick you pulled with your shirt to be very interesting. His heart rate even increased.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.” She smirked. “He wasn’t much of a talker. I was getting bored and desperate.”
Frost tapped away at a screen. “I was running brain scans on him while you talked. It looks like the portions of his brain that regulate emotion and even speech have been totally co-opted for his communication duties.”
Gabriel scratched his head. “I get the eating and drinking, but why is he still interested in women?”
Frost rubbed his chin. “If I had to guess, and that’s all I can do, I’d say that sexual desire is still present because, along with eating and drinking, it’s a core basic function. So basic that it got left with the others. I’d bet they found a way to cut out the ability to feel pain and self-preservation instincts to make him invulnerable to torture and intimidation.”
“Did you notice his eyes?” Gabriel asked.
A shiver ran up Thomas’ spine. “Other than their lifeless creepiness, no.”
“What about them, Sergeant?” Frost asked.
“He blinked every twenty-six seconds. Exactly every twenty-six seconds. I timed them.”
“Interesting,” Frost said, his eyes drifting off.
Jones stepped forward. “How is any of this going to help get information out of him? Why don’t we just hack into the nanos?”
“This tech is beyond anything I’ve seen before,” Frost said. “I don’t know what I’ll do to him if I try a hack job.”
Jones replied, “But if he can’t communicate?”
“I said he couldn’t speak. He may still be able to communicate.” He pointed to the screen. “I picked up transmissions of some kind after each question Thomas asked. He was trying to communicate, we just couldn’t understand him.
“The transmissions were encrypted. It will take a while to crack the code. I’ll put my best people on it and eventually they’ll figure it out. All codes can be broken, given enough time and effort. Once I know what he’s saying, I can better determine his motivations. Then I can start getting useful intel out of him.”
Jones gestured toward her comrades. “I take it that means you’re done with us?”
Frost nodded. “Yes, and the timing is good. They’re organizing the First. Word has it you’ll be heading out soon. Probably as part of the buildup for the strike against the Kitright, providing Maxwell is successful.”
“I’d say it’s been fun, Frost.” Jones reached out to shake hands. “But I think I’ll go with ‘it’s been interesting.’ Let us know if there’s anything we can do out there to stop Internal Security from turning the UES into another power-hungry empire.”
“That you can count on, Major. I promise.”
***
To say the discus-shaped Bearcat destroyer docking with Alpha Gate Base looked as out of place as a whore in church would be a gross understatement. Its presence represented one of the most significant events in human history, an event that a few years ago was as likely as the United States deciding to join Nazi Germany during World War II to invade Switzerland.
But there it was.
On approach, Trent surveyed the base’s sphere for signs of the battle that he, Amanda, and Hido had passed through on their way to make contact with the Warrior’s Forum. Numerous laser scars spoke to the desperate battle that had taken place over four months ago.
He’d learned from Hido that the attack had not been designed to conquer this particular slice of space.
Following the multi-system human offensive launched around the time of Trent’s return from his exodus, the Bearcats had been on their heels. Then two saving graces smilingly appeared out of nowhere to change their fortunes.
First, the humans ceased to press their advantage, giving them time to regroup.
Secondly, the Calths came to the Warrior’s Forum with incredible information, the location of the human home world. They claimed to have accidentally come about the data while conducting long range radio astronomy.
Moving forward, what the Bearcats needed more of was time. The broad offensive had severely weakened their fleet strength and also the industrial capacity to replace those losses. While they didn’t have the resources to fully exploit the knowledge of the human’s home gate, they could launch a limited spoiler attack.
By striking Alpha Gate Base with a reconnaissance in force, the Bearcats learned a great deal about the target’s defensive capabilities and tactical plan. Most importantly, hitting the enemy’s most important point in the universe would likely cause them to direct significant assets to defending that point, taking them away from further offensive operations. With one operation, they hoped to shift the entire strategic disposition of their enemy.
If the war between mankind and Bearcats continued, the operation would have been worth the dozens of ships lost. However, now placed against the backdrop of the current state of affairs, their losses, and the loss of the human ships, represented a tragedy of epic proportions.
Trent and Amanda led the delegation off the destroyer.
Admiral Chen cocked his head at seeing their tan tunics.
“I’ll explain later,” Trent said.
The admiral nodded.
Behind them, a string of Bearcats made their way onto the station.
Trent turned to make the introductions. “Admiral, you already know High Commander Kenti. This is Low Commander Oodon. He is in command of the Bearcat commando unit that will coordinate with our troops.”
Chen stiffened to attention and snapped a perfect salute.
Oodon replied in-kind with crossed arms.
Trent continued, “This is Ship Leader Hytoo of the destroyer Blind Fury, and finally, this is Ambassador Quant. He is leading the diplomatic mission to Earth.”
“Yes,” Chen said. “Ambassador, my orders are for you and your team to proceed to Earth immediately. We have a ship standing by to take you now, if you are ready.”
The ambassador inclined his head. “We share your sense of urgency and are ready to depart.”
“Excellent.” He gestured to an aide. “The captain here will show you to your vessel. Good luck and Godspeed, Ambassador.”
“Thank you.”
Quant briskly followed the Legion officer, with half a dozen other Bearcats trailing him.
Once they disappeared through the door, Chen turned back to the gathered audience. “Please, accompany me to my ready room. We have several details to go over.”
***
Around the small conference table in the admiral’s private office sat the people from the docking bay plus Captain Spaaz of the
cruiser Battle of Britain.
Overhead, the stars sparkled brightly through the transparent ceiling as a battle group cruised along.
Under normal circumstances, Amanda, a mere sergeant, would not have joined these high-profile officers for a meeting of this magnitude. However, given her unique set of Bearcat cultural credentials, she’d earned her seat – a seat Trent noticed she looked rather uncomfortable in.
Chen kicked off the meeting. “Before we go into the mission details, I think we should address how our personnel will interact.”
“Agreed,” Hido said. “Our warriors have been bitter enemies for decades. All of us have lost friends in this war. Those emotions cannot just be set aside because orders demand it.”
“Well said.” Chen nodded. “That is why we must begin the integration as soon as possible. With this in mind, I’ve increased the censorship of all communications leaving the station and surrounding fleet to allow Bearcat personnel limited access to the station. I want our people to start getting used to the idea of seeing your troops in a non-threatening environment.”
“I think you’re right, sir,” Trent said. “But I have a suggestion.”
“Yes.”
“If we just let the Bearcats roam around, I think we’re asking for an unfortunate incident. To ensure peace, I suggest we assign every Bearcat that comes aboard an officer escort.”
“What is to ensure that the Bearcats play nice?” Spaaz asked. His unibrow dipped as he stared at Hido.
“Our warriors have been fully briefed on the change in priorities,” Ship Leader Hytoo said. “They understand what is at stake and what honor demands.”
Trent glared at Spaaz. “With all due respect, that is good enough for me, Admiral. This is a good chance for them to earn our trust through action, not simply words.”
“Very well. We’ll implement your plan, General. High Commander Kenti, please start the mission briefing.”
“Thank you, Admiral. Computer, bring up the objective.”
A hologram of a yellow-tinted planet with large oceans and two major continents appeared floating above the center of the cherrywood table.
“This world has a trading post our people frequent. The plan General Maxwell and I discussed calls for the Blind Fury to make the initial jump. Both the human and Bearcat assault teams will be on board. After the jump, we’ll deploy a stealth sub-space link. The Kitright shouldn’t be able to detect it.
“After three of your months, we’ll reach the planet to launch two intermixed strike teams. One will be under my command. Our target will be an orbiting Kitright ship, since at least one should be present. Another team, under General Maxwell’s command, will target their planetside headquarters.
“Once the assault craft are in position, a signal will be sent to the Battle of Britain through the hidden link. When the cruiser jumps into the system and eliminates the Kitright communications satellite, the assault teams will strike. The Blind Fury will also attack enemy ships in orbit.”
Trent read the expressions of the assembled group. “If we move fast enough, we should secure valuable intel without immediately tipping off the Kitright leadership. Whatever information we gather, we’ll send through the link to both home worlds. Hopefully, by the time we emerge through the gate, we’ll be ready to launch a general, joint offensive against several systems.”
“Sounds like a solid plan,” Chen commented. “What do we need to do to prepare for the mission?”
Spaaz cleared his throat. “The Fleet end of this seems straight forward. We could execute it today, if we wanted.”
“The same holds true for us,” Hytoo said.
“Agreed,” Trent said. “On paper, the strike teams’ missions look fairly simple as well. Nothing we couldn’t prepare for enroute under normal circumstances.” He looked around the table. “However, this isn’t a normal mission. The strike teams will be intermixed. The symbolism is critical, but it will take a lot of work to get them to work together as a team. Not only is there a lack of trust between our forces, but our methods are alien to each other.”
Chen rose and the rest of the table sprung up. “Then I suggest you start developing that teamwork, General. Time is not on our side.”
Chapter Thirteen
Unity
“Okay!” Trent yelled. “Let’s run the simulation again. This time, people, let’s not fuck it up so bad.”
A collective groan emanated from the hundred soldiers, half of them human and half not, all not wanting to run through the holo program again.
Half-assed, the soldiers began to move toward their starting positions. The lackadaisical pace inflamed Hido.
“Move, move!” he shouted. “Get into position like your lives depend on it! One of these days, they will!”
The booming words stirred them into swift action.
Trent reached high to pat him on the shoulder. “Nice job. Our plan will only work if they hate us both.”
“Yes. Few things can bond a unit together better than a mutual dislike of one’s commanding officers. When do you plan to give them a simulation they actually have a chance to win?”
Trent rubbed his chin. “Never.”
Hido’s laugh echoed throughout the chamber.
***
Amanda knew she loved Trent with all her heart. But as she gasped for breath inside her combat helmet running to the back of the simulator, she couldn’t for the life of her remember why.
Brass is just the long version of ass.
Stopping at her squad’s start position, she consulted her mind’s eye HUD to see if the rest of her unit had arrived. Five humans, counting herself, and five Bearcats. Bravo was accounted for.
The new combat assist link was interwoven with her neural nanos. Her helmet, suit, and weapon fed her data on the mission details for the next simulation. The information was transmitted directly into her brain, eliminating any delays from reading an order or misunderstanding a spoken word.
The information appearing in her head pissed her off even more.
“Ok, listen up, soldiers,” she barked. “We’re running the same mission as before.”
“That’s bullshit, Sarge,” Private Hobbs said.
“Lose the attitude, private,” she shot back. Even if she didn’t like the orders, it was her job as squad leader to carry them out.
“Sergeant,” one of the Bearcats said. He wore a makeshift headset with visor, giving him and his comrades the same com equipment as their new allies. “I will obey whatever order is given me, but I don’t see the honor in running this program again.”
“Why isn’t a concern for grunts like us. In a simulation, neither is honor. Got it? We go in ten seconds and we will kick ass!”
“Very well. I will do my best.” Without the nanos, she wouldn’t have known who said that. As it was, she didn’t care.
A loud beep signaled the start of the simulation.
A generic urban combat scene lay before Bravo, similar to what one would find at a typical Bearcat base. The simulation chamber was, unfortunately, a testament to the misguided efforts of the past hundred years.
While the setup was misplaced for these exercises, the holo projectors allowed the enemy combatants to appear as they should, as Kitright. No one knew how to program the projectors to mimic their armor, weaponry, or tactics, but at least the species was dead on.
As placeholders, the programmers gave the Kitright soldiers kinetic shielding similar to Bearcat armor and an energy weapon capable of scoring a kill with a single direct hit. These guesses might be way off, but they would do for now.
“Go, go, go!” Amanda ordered. Her squad ran forward into the simulation.
“Bravo, secure left flank. Take and hold the structure designated on your HUD,” she commanded through thought-speak. The order was transmitted in audio to the Bearcat helmets.
New orders from the century commander popped into the heads of Bravo squad. In unison, they sprinted for their new target, deeper into the combat z
one: a two-story square building with shot-out windows and wrecked door.
Inside, Amanda deployed her unit. “Fire Team Two, take position on the second floor. Team One, we stay on the first level.”
“What the hell is the major trying to do this time?” Private Hobbs asked aloud.
“Win, Private. He is trying to win,” she said with frustration. Every damn thing we’ve tried so far clearly hasn’t worked, she thought to herself.
“Here they come!”
She slid her mock MRG out a window. Ahead of her, swarms of Kitright soldiers charged, zigging and zagging around piles of rubble and blown-out buildings.
The point of the attack came under heavy fire from entrenched positions. Simulated grenades exploded all around as fake rounds slammed into the holos.
“Give ‘em hell,” Amanda shouted in their heads as she opened up with her own torrent of fire.
The enemy’s first wave took horrific losses. Amanda guessed the major was hoping an advanced defensive line would thin the enemy ranks enough for a successful rush to the objective, a simple red flag on top of the furthest structure.
As the Kitright losses reached a climax, an order popped into her mind, “Advance!”
Bravo poured out, paving the path forward with a deathly swarm of projectiles.
The artificial enemy abandoned the attack and adopted a hurried defensive line. In the rush, they made a mistake.
A hole in the enemy line called out to Amanda. She dared to believe the gap between a bombed-out building and a disabled armored vehicle was as undefended as it appeared.
“Follow me,” she ordered Bravo, waving them forward. At the speed of thought, she informed the major of her move.
The intermixed squad surged forward, pouring over rubble like a tsunami to capture the position. Sporadic fire burned into the ground around them, but they pushed deeper. A reserve force ran toward them to help exploit the breakout.
“Hold!” Amanda ordered when Bravo squad’s spearhead charge met the edge of a highway. “Dig in! Prepare to repel counterattack.” She knew the simulator wouldn’t let them run wild for long, and this was good ground to make a stand. From here, she could see the flag. That fucking red flag. It waved in the fake wind, taunting her.
The Last Revenge (The Last Hero Trilogy Book 2) Page 11